Falafel Döner: The Meat Free Kebap That Holds Its Own

11 hours ago

6 min read

A falafel döner is a döner kebap with crispy falafel instead of meat from the spit. Falafel are small fried balls of ground chickpeas, herbs and spices, and they bring crunch, warmth and plenty of flavour to the same bread, salad and sauces you'd find in a classic döner. Falafel themselves are vegan, so whether the whole kebap is vegan comes down to the sauce and toppings you choose. At Kebap with Attitude in Berlin Mitte, you can swap falafel into any of our kebaps.

What Is a Falafel Döner?
What Are Falafel Made Of?
Where Do Falafel Come From?
Is a Falafel Döner Vegan?
How Many Calories Are in a Falafel Döner?
Falafel, Halloumi or Planted: Choosing Your Swap
Which Sauce Goes Best With Falafel?
How We Do Falafel at Kebap with Attitude
FAQ

What Is a Falafel Döner?

The word döner comes from the Turkish for "turning," which describes the rotating spit the meat is cooked on. So strictly speaking, a falafel döner isn't a döner at all, because nothing about it turns. But language follows what people actually order, and in Germany the döner has become a format as much as a dish: warm bread, fresh salad, crunchy vegetables, sauce, and something hearty in the middle. Put falafel in that middle and you've got a falafel döner.

It's one of the most ordered meat free options in döner shops across Germany, and it's easy to see why. Falafel are filling, they're full of flavour on their own, and they hold up well against strong sauces. For a lot of people who don't eat meat, it was the first proper döner they could order without feeling like they were getting the side salad version.

What Are Falafel Made Of?

Most falafel are made from dried chickpeas that are soaked overnight and then ground raw with onion, garlic and lots of fresh herbs, usually parsley and coriander. Spices like cumin and coriander seed go in too. The mixture is shaped into small balls or patties and fried until the outside is deep golden and crispy while the inside stays soft, green and fluffy.

That raw chickpea detail matters more than it sounds. If you start with cooked or canned chickpeas, the falafel turn out dense and mushy, and they tend to fall apart in the fryer. Soaked but uncooked chickpeas give you that light texture and a proper crust, which is what makes a good falafel stand out in a kebap where everything else is soft.

Where Do Falafel Come From?

Nobody can say for certain. The most widely told story places falafel in Egypt, where a version called ta'amiya is still made with fava beans instead of chickpeas. From there, falafel spread across the Levant, and today they're a staple in Lebanon, Syria, Palestine, Israel and Jordan, each with its own style and its own strong opinions about the right way to make them.

What's clear is that falafel arrived in Germany with people, the same way the döner did. Today you'll find them in döner shops, Middle Eastern restaurants and street food markets all over Berlin, and the falafel döner sits right where those food cultures meet.

Is a Falafel Döner Vegan?

The falafel are vegan. Chickpeas, herbs, onion, garlic, spices and oil: there's nothing from an animal in there. Whether the whole kebap is vegan depends on what goes around them.

The most common catch is the sauce. Classic döner sauces like garlic and herb are usually made with yoghurt or mayonnaise, so they contain dairy or egg. Toppings like feta or halloumi aren't vegan either. If you're ordering vegan, it's worth asking which sauces are plant based before you order.

With us, four of our eleven homemade sauces are vegan: Tomato, Spicy, Smoky BBQ and our Vegan Cacık, which we make with soy yoghurt so vegan guests still get a creamy white sauce. Pick from those, skip the feta, and tell our team you're eating vegan, and we'll build your kebap around it. You'll find more detail in our döner sauce guide.

How Many Calories Are in a Falafel Döner?

A falafel döner usually lands somewhere between 600 and 900 calories, depending on the size, the bread, how many falafel go in and, above all, the sauce. That surprises a lot of people, because falafel feel like the lighter choice.

Here's why it isn't always lighter. Falafel are fried, so they soak up oil, and chickpeas are already quite energy dense. A chicken döner can easily end up with fewer calories than a falafel one. What falafel do bring is plant protein and fibre, which keep you full for longer.

If you're watching calories, the biggest difference you can make isn't the filling but the sauce. Going lighter on mayonnaise based sauces, or choosing a tomato based one instead, changes the total far more than swapping falafel for meat. We've broken this down in more detail in our post on how many calories are really in a döner.

Falafel, Halloumi or Planted: Choosing Your Swap

On our menu, you can replace the meat in any kebap with one of three options: falafel, halloumi or Planted. They're all good, but they do very different things.

Falafel bring crunch and an earthy, herby flavour, and they're vegan. They work especially well with fresh, bright sauces and a lot of salad. Halloumi is grilled cheese that keeps its shape when it's hot, salty and a little squeaky, so it's great if you want something rich and satisfying, but it isn't vegan. Planted is plant based meat, made from pea protein, and it's the closest thing to the texture of meat from the spit. It's what we use in our Vallah Vegan.

So if you want something that tastes like a meat free kebap in its own right, go for falafel. If you want something that feels as close to a classic döner as possible without the meat, go for Planted. And if you're vegetarian rather than vegan and just want comfort, halloumi has you covered.

Which Sauce Goes Best With Falafel?

Falafel are earthy, herby and a little nutty, so they love a sauce with some freshness or acidity to lift them. That's why tahini and lemon are the classic pairing across the Middle East. In a döner, the same idea applies: you want something that cuts through the fried crust rather than something that makes the whole kebap heavier.

For us, the classic trio of garlic, herb and spicy is hard to beat. The garlic sauce brings that creamy, punchy depth, the herb sauce adds freshness, and the spicy one gives a bit of heat against the soft, green inside of a good falafel. What makes them work so well is that we make all three ourselves. They taste of real garlic, real herbs and real peppers, not of the long list of thickeners and preservatives you'll find on a lot of ready made sauces. With something as simple and honest as falafel, you notice that difference straight away.

If you'd like an alternative, our homemade Vegan Cacık goes just as well. It's cool and creamy, made with soy yoghurt, garlic and herbs, and it gives falafel that fresh lift without being heavy. It's also the perfect match if you want your kebap completely vegan. Falafel with Vegan Cacık gives you a fully plant based kebap that still has everything a döner should have: crunch, freshness and a proper white sauce. Add our Spicy sauce, which is vegan too, if you like a bit of kick.

Our tip: pair one creamy sauce with one that has a bit of heat, and let the falafel sit right in the middle.

How We Do Falafel at Kebap with Attitude

We've been making kebaps at Gipsstraße 2 since 2019, and our approach to falafel is the same as everything else on our menu. We call it Natural Attitude: honest ingredients, prepared in house, without shortcuts. Our bread arrives fresh every day from a bakery in Neukölln, our sauces are homemade, and everything goes out in recyclable packaging.

You can order falafel in a few different ways. Swap it into any of our kebaps as a Pide, a Dürüm or a Tray. Choose it in our Classic Bowl, with rice, red cabbage, red onions, tomatoes, pickles and parsley, or in our Tschick Bowl with grilled vegetables, cucumber, mint and lime. Or start the table with our Mini Falafel from the mezze menu, served with sweet tahini, pomegranate, mint and sesame.

Come by our full service restaurant in Berlin Mitte, near Rosenthaler Platz, where we have space for up to 120 guests inside, on the front terrace and in the backyard garden. Or order through Wolt, Lieferando or Uber Eats and we'll bring it to you.